Adventures Forever Lost
by Piper Redfern
Summary: COMPLETE (2003 movie version). One shot fic. Just something that came about when I wondered about the line that says that Peter was forever barred from the life people on Earth lived. Please R&R!


There was a glow coming from the window. Inside sat Wendy with her back to the window, telling a story to the children sitting around her. None of them noticed that outside the window, hidden in the shadows, was a boy. He leaned against the windowsill, quietly listening to another story. Another story about him, and what adventures he might be having in Neverland. The story ended, and the children set about to preparing to go to bed. Suddenly, the glow was gone.

Peter peered around the window. He scanned the room, looking for Wendy. She wasn't there. He flew to another window and found Wendy. His Wendy. Her back was still towards him. Suddenly, she turned towards a door in the room and smiled. Her husband entered the room, and leaned in to kiss her. Peter's heart fell, a feeling he had already gotten used to. Without looking back, Peter flew into the night. He flew past the stars and planets, until he was back in Neverland. After arriving, he roamed restlessly around the forest. Peter didn't like staying in the tree much because of all the memories he associated it with. He flew to a large twisted tree and sat in its branches. Tink knew better than to be around him when he was there.

A single solitary tear fell down his cheek. He longed to be near Wendy again. However, she didn't understand. She was right when she told him his biggest pretend was he didn't want to grow up. Growing up was probably one of his deepest desires. But Wendy would never understand why. Even if Peter wanted to grow up, he couldn't. While it was true he was once a human boy who ran away, his years in Neverland changed him. He survived because it was a place for children to escape to. Neverland was a place for their imaginations to live. Slowly it had changed him. While he could survive for a short time on Earth, he could never stay there. No matter how much he wanted to, he could never leave Neverland. Staying away for a long time would only kill him. Peter was no longer a human boy. He was essentially the very essence of Neverland, just as Neverland gave him life. To leave Neverland permanently would be to let Neverland fade from memory and slowly destroy it. Once Neverland started to fade, so would Peter.

Another tear dropped from his eyes, before he was soon showering the ground below with his tears. Hook, of all people, was right. Peter could feel. He felt for Wendy. He felt for something he couldn't have. He felt for someone who only remembered him as if he had been a dream. Peter had known that if Wendy remembered her parents, she would leave. He tried to prevent her from remembering. Then he turned around and ruined it, just because he didn't want to admit his feelings to her. If only he could have been brave enough to tell her the truth. To tell her that he really was lonely. To tell her that, while Peter enjoyed the company of the Lost Boys, he still needed more. What Peter now wished was that he had been brave enough to tell her was that he needed her. Now, she was gone to him forever. Knowing that he would never be the one Wendy called "Husband" tore him up inside.

Peter wiped his face before standing. He looked around, and then flew off the branch, towards the stars. The only way it could have worked for Peter was if Wendy had stayed in Neverland. That, however, could not be. He flew over the waters, over the forest, into the clouds before settling on one and staring into the stars. He was destined to stay in Neverland forever. What had once seemed a blessing now only felt like a curse to him. It was true he liked adventures. Two of the adventures that he would never get to experience, though, were the very ones everyone else did. They lived. And they loved. Peter's heart ached. While he loved Wendy, he didn't get to share it with her. Rising again, he returned to his home. While he lay trying to find sleep, he looked around. Everywhere he looked were ghosts of memories, memories of Wendy. Again, a tear slid from his eyes. He rolled away. It would be easy to let his heart sink into a cold mass, forever freeing him from his torment. But Peter knew he couldn't do that. For that was how Hook had become the way he was. Hook was once a person who escaped, who ran away. His bitterness slowly transformed him until he became the frozen person he was. Peter refused to let himself become that. Sighing, he closed his eyes, welcoming sleep. For in his dreams, Wendy was still in Neverland with him. In his dreams, she stayed while the others left. In his dreams, Wendy was his, and called him "Husband".


End file.
